Noises Off

My thoughts on Noises Off or…Thank you, Ashley. Now I get it.

I have a long and unpleasant history with the play Noises Off. I've seen the last Broadway revival and numerous local productions, but I never found it particularly funny and often thought it was tedious. I could never figure out why so many theater companies chose to include it in their seasons. I was prepared to endure it yet again and even told my friend Chris Ryal, who was seated beside me, about my lack of enthusiasm for the play that was about to begin.

Enter visionary Director Ashley H. White, who has taken this play from my D List and made it into a rollicking good time that kept me in almost constant laughter for the entire evening. In White’s hands, Michael Frayn’s classic British comedy is fresh and furiously funny. White’s version of Noises Off reminded me of the screwball comedies from Hollywood’s heyday, with a bit of the Marx Brothers added for good measure.

White skillfully uses lighting and sound, masterfully crafted by Jessica Ann Drayton and Claudia Jenkins Martinez, to enhance the humor in scenes that flow through Scenic Designer Todd Rosenthal’s stunning two-sided English country home set. She also has her actors tumbling and rolling on the floor during the hilarious backstage chaos of Act II. It’s all great, bawdy fun with White at the helm.

I’m assuming that almost everyone associated with theater knows Frayn’s 43-year-old play that takes a farcical look at ego-inflated actors, their passionate affairs, and backstage antics, so I won’t dwell on the plot. I will, however, address the marvelous cast that Director White has assembled.

The majority of the cast are members of Dallas Theater Center’s renowned Diane and Hal Brierley Resident Acting Company, and this professional troupe has the skills to make this mounting of Noises Off world-class.

Alex Organ shines as the charismatic, slightly pompous, and exasperated director Lloyd Dallas, struggling to wrangle his actors into delivering a cohesive performance. On the side, he’s having an affair with his emotional-for-good-reason assistant stage manager, Poppy Norton-Taylor, portrayed with a winning, woebegone charm by an almost unrecognizable Christina Austin Lopez, as well as with one of his leading ladies, Brooke Ashton. Molly Searcy brings Brooke to life with plenty of flounce and bounce, creating a character who is both irresistibly sexy, endearingly fragile, and comedy gold.

The excellent Tiffany Solano, looking like she just stepped off the set of “Designing Women” with Aaron Patrick DeClerk’s fabulous 80s-inspired costume and sky-high hair, portrays Belinda Blair. Solano’s Belinda is sharp-witted but enjoys a bit of gossip, and she effectively maintains her composure—except when Frederick Fellowes enters the picture. Esteban Vilchez plays Fellowes, a charming yet slightly dim character prone to nosebleeds. As a suave leading man caught in the chaos of a crumbling play, Vilchez delivers an outstanding performance, even earning applause for hilariously climbing stairs with his pants around his ankles.

Bob Hess is Selsdon Mowbray, a drunkard whose glory days of playing Shakespearean roles are long past, and who is always a beat or two behind. Hess is a delight as the aging inebriate who can’t remember his lines and gives Mowbray an engaging charm as he desperately looks for his next drink.

Who else but the incredible Liz Mikel, playing Dotty Otley, could get laughs simply by shuffling on stage with a plate of sardines? Over nearly eight years of attending theater in DFW, one of my greatest joys has been watching Liz Mikel embody her characters, and she is at her best here as the housekeeper Mrs. Clackett. It’s a challenging role, requiring Otley to be both a busy, middle-aged housekeeper and a backstage seductress involved with the much younger Gerry Lejeune, and Mikel handles it all with ease and brilliance.

Pierre Tannous, an MFA Acting candidate at Southern Methodist University, makes a strong debut at Dallas Theater Center as Garry Lejeune, a hilariously challenging role that demands exceptional physical comedy skills. Though still in training, Tannous’s talent shines through. He delivers big laughs, especially when Lejeune’s temper explodes in Act II. Whether wielding an axe or tumbling down the stairs, Tannous proves to be a comic powerhouse.

Cristian Torres, currently finishing his MFA in Acting at Southern Methodist University, makes his Dallas Theater Center debut as Tim Allgood, the stage manager in the play within a play. Torres, a charismatic performer, brings a likable charm to the frazzled, overworked Allgood and skillfully delivers laughs while managing Lloyd Dallas' demands and attempting to maintain order in the chaotic production.

What a cast this is! And they do it all with impeccable British accents with the help of Dialect Coach Anne Schilling.

Here are some words I never thought I would write. You must go see Dallas Theater Center’s brilliant Noises Off. It just may be the most unexpected pleasure of my theatergoing career.

Photo by Jordan Fraker for Dallas Theater Center